Bhattars’ devotional commitment of several decades in challenging times finds reward for the Next Gen Priests as the temple sees a remarkable turnaround in its fortunes with devotees now swarming the temple in large numbers for Prarthana Pooja
83 year old Seshadri Bhattar is at the Soundararaja Perumal temple at Thadi kombu on this auspicious Thursday (Aug 7) evening when the Thiru Kalyanam event was being celebrated as part of the Aadi Brahmotsavam. Ahead of this event, there are devotees trickling into the temple right from 4pm. There are multiple sannidhis at the temple with an archaka manning each of these. Being a Thursday, devotees have darshan of Hayagriva on the South side and then perform archanai at the Bairavar Sannidhi in the North. Seshadri Bhattar sits in front of the Thayar Sannidhi and reminisces the dark days of his life when his wait for the next devotee almost always turned elusive and how things have now finally turned around at this temple.
The annual trip to Dindigul in Chitrai
Aadi Brahmotsavam was one of the only two utsavams in the year till not so long ago. Even during the Aadi Utsavam there was no crowd and there were no flower garlands on most days but it is different now and the crowd brings a smile in Seshadri Bhattar, for he had experienced nothing like this in his decades as a priest at this temple.
Seshadri Bhattar joined his thatha and uncle at the temple in the late 1950s when he was still in his teens having quit academics after class VII. He would walk along with them in the long Chitrai procession of Soundararaja Perumal to Dindigul and that’s how he got interested very early in his life in temple kainkaryam. The Sripatham personnel carried Perumal on their shoulder on this trip.
Similar to Kallazhagar of Azhagar Koil making a 20 kms trip to Madurai on Chitra Pournami day(https://prtraveller.blogspot.com/2009/05/azhagar-chitrai-festival-2009.html), Soundararaja Perumal of Thadi Kombu too makes a 20kms trip to Dindigul on the same day. It was with the collection from that annual trip in Chitrai that the expenses of the entire year was taken care of in the second half of the previous century. The Hundi collection did not exceed Rs. 1000 for the entire year !!!
The period in the late 1950s and 60s was terrible for the Kainkaryaparas at this temple. He remembers that phase vividly “There was no electricity at the temple. The sannidhis and the prakara was dark after 6pm and the huge number of bats inside the temple sannidhis scared me as they outnumbered the humans."
The archakas of the time would cycle to Dindigul to get oil and with that limited quantity would light the lamp at the Perumal and Thayar Sannidhi.
He recounts the poverty stricken life from his early years "I did not have breakfast or dinner on any day during my childhood. The first and only meal of the day was the neivedyam prasadam after 12.30pm. Rava Upma was what we had on many days. And on other days, it was rice mixed with oil for food!!! We considered it a great blessing if we got to have ‘pala-aagaram’ on Amavasai day but on most occasions we did not have money even for that. It was a financially challenged phase."
"We would come to the temple in the morning and wait till noon for devotees to arrive but on most days that wait proved elusive."
Being a remote temple town, there was no activity in this region except for the temple. He joined at the temple at a salary of Rs. 11 that went up to Rs. 1200 at the time of his retirement several decades later. Most of the service personnel had left the temple seeking greener pastures elsewhere with the archaka families, Melam, Pala Velai and Mei Kaval being the only ones that remained in those dark decades. Even on Puratasi Saturdays and on Vaikunta Ekadasi, there was no crowd and the temple was deserted.
Historic Temple
This location was historically referred to as Thaalai Vana Kshetram (reference to the number of palm groves surrounding the Soundararaja Perumal temple). With the congregation of a huge Telugu population in this area, over time, this region came to be named as Thaadi Kombu (the place of palm trees).
Having been turned into a frog, Manduga Rishi was undertaking penance here on the banks of Kumba River to relieve himself of his sins. Attacked by Asura Thalasuran, Manduga Rishi sought the help of Lord Soundararajan of Azhagar Koil who answered the Rishi’s prayers by killing the Asura. A happy Manduga Rishi who got back his human form requested the Lord to provide darshan to everyone in the same form here at this place. As the Lord acceded to his request, this temple is said to be the Northern Home of Thiru Maaliruncholai Azhagar. There is a record that once upon a time there had been prabhandham recital at this temple with kainkaryaparas from Srirangam and Thiru Maliruncholai coming here to perform service.
One finds reference to the Northern House at Thaadi Kombu in inscriptions relating to Pandya kings who ruled Madurai in the 9th-12th Century AD, an indication that this temple dates back to a time prior to that period and is well over a 1000 years old.
Inscription within the temple makes this reference -
“……சுந்தர பாண்டிய மண்டபதிலே நானும் நம் பெண்டுகளும்
மூலகமா இறுகலில்
நமக்கு வடக்கு வீடான
திருமலை தாடி கொம்பு அழகர் ….”
Capital of Dindigul
The British who captured Dindigul in 1801 made Thaadi Kombu the first capital of Dindigul. The Dindigul Collectorate is still located just a few kms before Thadi Kombu on the Dindigul Karur National Highway.
The next gen priest- Badri Jagannathan Bhattar
Seshadri Bhattar retired over a decade ago handing over the reign to his son but continues to be at the temple each day of the year for he knows nothing other than serving the Lord of Thadi Kombu having spent his entire life here. He is delighted at the unimaginable transformation that this temple has seen.
Badri Jagannathan Bhattar is in his early 30s and is at the Bairavar Sannidhi this week. This nephew of Seshadri Bhattar has been an archaka at the temple for the last 15 years or so having come into this temple when things were just turning around for the better. His family and his uncle’s alternate every month between the Perumal/Thayar Sannidhi and the prakara sannidhis.
Sitting at the Bairavar Sannidhi where there is a steady flow of devotees on this Thursday evening ahead of the Thiru Kalyanam event, he looks back at how his life unfolded in the teenage phase “I was enjoying my school life till Class X when my appa (Rajappa Bhattar) decided to pack me off to Srirangam for agama initiation at the Patshala. I had seen the struggles of my appa and uncle and wanted to continue my school education but that was when my appa gave me a lifetime message that has stood with me everyday of my life over the last two decades.”
From Thiru Vellarai to Thadi Kombu for Kainkaryam
This section had featured a story a decade ago as to how there were over 3000 Vaishnavites at Thiru Vellarai and it was from there that the original inhabitants moved to perform temple Kainkaryam across the state and beyond(https://prtraveller.blogspot.com/2016/10/thiru-vellarai-divya-desam.html).
This family too is one such. Disciples of Periya Thirumaligai of Thiru Vellarai Divya Desam, his forefathers had made their way to Thadi Kombu to perform Kainkaryam here. After performing yet another archanai, Badri Jagannathan Bhattar goes on to narrate as to how his appa seeded the thought in him on the importance of temple Kainkaryam “We were blessed to be ones to be performing archaka service in this centuries old temple and come what may, we should dedicate our entire lives in service to Soundararaja Perumal. He will always take care of us” he recalls his appa telling him that day before sending him to Srirangam for his Pancharatra Agama studies.
Badri Jagannathan Bhattar with appa Rajappa Bhattar
Prarthana Sevai wave leads the temple turnaround
The turn of the century saw a devotional wave hitting TN temples with devotees coming back into temples in good numbers after the quiet phase of the previous decades. Prarthana sevai was taking off in a big way and the Soundararaja Perumal temple turned out to be one in the right place to cater to this requirement with each Sannidhi inside the temple solving a specific problem of the devotee.
A Special Pooja is performed at the Dhanvantri Sannidhi on No Moon day to relieve one of any health problems. A visit to the Lakshmi Narasimha Sannidhi on full moon day is said to help solve finance related issues. Special Pooja on Thursdays at the Rathi- Manmatha Sannidhi relieves couples of problems in their married life. A pooja during Rahu Kaalam on Sunday at the Swarna Aakarshana Bairavar Sannidhi helps one recover from financial losses and bad debts.
Hayagriva and Bairavar Sannidhis took off as did the Perumal Sannidhi with each meeting a specific prarthana of the devotees.
From one or two devotees a day for many decades, the temple suddenly witnessed a huge influx of devotees from across the state. And this increased the need for more service personnel leading to Badri Jagannathan Bhattar cutting short his stint at the Patshala and returning full time to Thadi Kombu to support his appa and uncle.
Devotional Commitment to Soundararaja Perumal
In the initial phase, he only performed support service helping them out without an official appointment. It was only after a few years that he got a daily wage assignment and then moved on to permanent appointment only much later. He experienced financial challenges in his childhood and was fully aware of the scenario at the temple but after his appa's devotional message to him, Badri Jagannathan Bhattar's only focus in life was to serve at the feet of Soundararaja Perumal and his thoughts stayed away from the financial aspects. This was also a reason for him to resist the temptation to go for outside events and homams "My appa told me very early on that there could be a lot of money made out of homams outside the temple but it will result in our mind going away from Soundararaja Perumal and towards making more money. Hence, I declined all offers to perform outside events" says Badri Jagannathan Bhattar proud of the fact that even as a teenager his mind had become completely attached to the Lord of Thadi Kombu.
Consecration after a Sudarshana Homam
This temple had originally been a hereditary temple but the trustees of the time handed this over to the HR & CE in the 1960s, given the challenges in running the temple. There had been no consecration after 1965 till the late 90s. With the poor financial situation at the temple in those decades, the consecration had to be postponed indefinitely.
Badri Jagannathan Bhattar was still a young boy at school when a grand Sudarshan Homam was organised with the only Sankalpam being to seek the blessings of Soundararaja Perumal to perform the consecration without any further delay. And within a year, it happened with the owners of SSN Mills almost fully undertaking the expenses, says Badri Jagannathan Bhattar with a twinkle in his eyes. And they committed to supporting the temple in every way from then and have been doing so till now. Since then, with the blessings of Soundararaja Perumal, the Mill Owners have expanded their business in a big way and the temple has grown leaps and bounds with devotees thronging the temple in large numbers all through the year for Parikara and Prarthana pooja.
In the decade and a half he has been here, he has seen a huge transformation at the temple. In addition to the Mill owner, the devotee donors who had forgotten this temple in the financially challenging times are now queuing up seeking mandagapadi at the utsavams. From just the two utsavams in Chitrai and Aadi till the end of the previous century, there are now round the year utsavams with a big event taking place almost every month.
Exquisite Sculptures
A big feature at this temple is the beautifully crafted sculptures on the Southern side of the temple similar to the one at Krishnapuram near Tirunelveli - 14 in all including Anjaneya carrying Rama on his shoulder, Vaikuntanathan sleeping atop Adhiseshan, Maha Vishnu mounted on Garuda, Battle with Hiranya and ‘Hiranya Samhaaram’ - quite a difficult one to carve. There are also 7 musical pillars at the temple. Another unique feature is the presence of a standing Pillayar and Vishnu Durgai.
The temple was renovated by the Vijayanagar kings, Achudeva Raya and his brother Ramadeva Raya in the 16th Century AD. Thirumalai Nayakar was responsible for the exquisite sculptures.
Next Gen take over
As the clock ticks past 5pm, Seshadri Bhattar sits in front of the Thayar Sannidhi and watches his son Venkatraman (Ramamoorthy to those in the temple circles) perform the Thiru Kalyana pooja. He expresses happiness to this writer at how the family’s devotional commitment of several decades is now finally paying off. We did not leave the temple when the scenario was at its worst and lived a poverty stricken life as all of us believed in the Lord and knew that someday in life there would be a positive turnaround. The transformation has been quite unbelievable and the next gen priests are well off with God giving them all that they could ask for. After not having any money to even have 2-3 meals a day, this octogenarian is now receiving pension of Rs. 4000 every month. He sees that as a reward from God for the service he rendered in the second half of the previous century without any expectation. He looks back at the decades in the 1960s and 70s as a life of the worst kind, financially, but says that he never got angry even on a day when not a single devotee turned up at the temple. He saw as his role performing Kainkaryam at the feet of Soundararaja Perumal and hence he never wavered from those thoughts.
His grandsons too are undergoing Patshala education and he is hoping that they too would join the temple kainkaryam one day in the future. Badri Jagannathan Bhattar has spent almost all of his last 15 years at this temple. He sees the Kainkaryam at this temple as his only way of life and is hoping that more such would take to temple service as there is shortage of service personnel.
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